From: Surasky@aol.com
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 09:48:43 -0500
Subject: The Brown U Sex Industry-Cecilie Surasky
The Brown University Sex Industry
At Brown University, the Ivy League of choice for children of the rich and
famous, participation in the sex industry is one of the more interesting
hidden traditions. There's the Brown scientist featured in the newly released
soft core 'Studmuffins of Science' calendar; and that great addition to the
literary canon, "Ivy League Stripper" written by a Brown alum about her
experiences working her way through school.
In the 80's, there was the daughter of a Republican Administration economist
who made a notorious how-to sex film and later worked as a stripper; the
Russian Studies major who published a calendar featuring shots of
half-clothed men; and of course, the infamous Brown prostitution ring.
But then there was a small group of Brunonians for whom sex wasn't simply a
hobby or a way to earn a buck, but a mission. These women were thoughtful,
highly educated, feminist activists. Many, though not all, are lesbians or
bisexual. They went on to become publishers, video producers, store owners
and dancers. Many of them were friends with whom I attended Brown in the mid
to late 80's.
Today, several from this group, one by way of a Ph.D., publish the two
biggest lesbian erotica/pornography magazines in the country-On Our Backs and
Girlfriends.
Another, Claire Cavanah, co-owns Toys in Babeland, a Pacific Northwest store
that caters mostly to women and features sex books, videos and "the largest
selection of high-quality sex toys in Seattle." "By toys," Claire explains "
I mean items that were once called 'marital aids'; things that were used only
when sex in a marriage was in trouble. Our store is brightly colored and
open giving it the look of a boutique, and it is staffed entirely by women
who provide respectful service."
With a 1-800 number, a mail order catalog, a soon to be on-line web page and
a book in the works, Toys in Babeland is a national sex industry all unto
itself.
How did some of our best and brightest become so interested in something
considered by many to be so shameful, disturbing and exploitative? How could
women who called themselves feminists support pornography-something that
radical feminist lawyer Catherine MacKinnon has said not only causes rape but
is rape?
Claire explained, "We came of age when campus feminism was dominated by
theorists like Andrea Dworkin who expressed the extreme of the spectrum by
asserting that intercourse was rape. It felt like a return to the Christian
Women's Temperance Union philosophy that held women as the essential bearers
of morality-above the 'baseness' of desire and pleasure. "
This vehement hatred of mainstream pornography cast a pall on all expressions
of sexual desire-celluloid, printed, or real life. 'What was wrong with
desire, anyway?' young Brown students started to ask. We looked at our own
lives and saw the expression of sexuality as healthy and regenerative, not
shameful or damaging.
In the mid-80's, Playboy did a series on Women of the Ivy League. Some Brown
feminists protested not by picketing, but by creating their own pornography
magazine. But this one was by women-for men and women of all sexual
persuasions.
It was one of the first collegiate attempts at creating a feminist
pornography/erotica and it landed its publishers on the front page of the NY
Daily News with a headline reading "Brown Co-Eds Make Porn Magazine". As
Claire, who worked on the publication said, "It wasn't exactly hot, but it
definitely got you thinking."
These women became part of a movement to protest a sexist and often
exploitative world of pornography by re-creating it. In so doing, they have
ironically helped to mainstream the multi-billion dollar industry.
Actually, the fact is the sex industry has always been mainstream. Take, for
example, the customers at Toys in Babeland. According to Claire, "We get
everyone in here from fraternity boys, engineers and lawyers to prominent
business leaders, lap dancers and city councilmen-including Republicans. "
"We had a 75 yr. old woman who came in and said 'your stuff is much better
than ours was.' Apparently, she used to do home parties back in the 40's and
50's. Selling 'marital aids' was like selling Tupperware. Another woman
bought a $50,000 car at the BMW lot across the street and then dropped $200
bucks at our store. We get heterosexual couples, lesbians, gay men...you name
it."
But what do sex toys, books and videos have to do with the feminist
revolution?
"The toys we sell enhance pleasure. Once you get one, you get ideas, and then
you get more. But they mostly enhance communication. People get emotionally
closer that way. They really break down barriers. The toy itself provides the
catalyst for communicating," explains Claire, "and most people usually stay
in the dark. Sex is the creative life force.... It's unpredictable, it can't
be fully controlled in its entirety. A lot of feminism has gone aground by
trying to control desire which is the most varied and creative thing God has
ever created."
There you have it. You won't see these folks featured in the pages of the
Brown Alumni Monthly, which is really too bad. We all owe them a debt of
thanks. Sexuality is an overwhelmingly significant part of our lives. It
drives us in ways we've barely begun to understand. Open communication with
our partners about desire is essential to our healthy development as human
beings.
These people from Brown have taken great risks in delving into the most
fearful parts of who we are. In so doing, they are helping to create an
honest environment in which important healing can take place. As in so many
fields, Brown alumni can be found on the cutting edge. It just happens that
this edge is one that most people find profoundly terrifying.
You can call Toys in Babeland at 1-800-658-9119 for a mail order catalog.
Cecilie Surasky is a communications consultant and lesbian activist. e-mail:
Surasky@aol.com {et